Rain
by Asreena
Summary: Chapter 4, formatting fixed. Kagome & company are touring america... unfortunatly, someone else has decided to tour with them. NOT AU.
1. Prologue

A/N: Well, apparently the powers that be don't want me working on the sister story. So, you lucky people, you, you get the sequal. Wooooooah. Thumbs up!

There've been cries for a sequal, so, I did one… I hope it measures up to the first…

I, Asreena-Sama being of somewhat sane body and insane enough to write a sequal mind

Do herebye bequeath to thee, Marty-chan

Most of this story, starting with this chapter

****

Rain

Prolouge

"D-Do we have to fly on the big metal bird thing?" Sango asked,shuddering a bit. Kagome giggled and shook her head. 

"Nah, we can drive up to the college. That's really the only reason we have a car, actually." 

Miroku, curled around Sango, looked dissapointed. "So we get to go in the small, slower creature but not the bigger, faster one. How does that make sense?" They'd seen airplanes when Kagome had taken them to pick up Siri at the airport—they'd been fascinated with them since. The train had been even worse, they'd actually gotten to ride it. She'd made sure they were well aquatinted with the minivan on the drive back home.

Siri chuckled, on her way out the door—when she'd insisted on spending the summer with Kagome's family, her parents had insisted on a cram school in Tokyo… she convinced them it would be a 'worldly experience.' She'd also claimed that Kagome would need her there for 'emotional support.' Privately, Kagome wondered how a girl as bright as Siri could have parents as dense as she did—after all, they knew Miroku, Sango, and Inu-Yasha would be staying there, too. "Give it up, Kagome." Siri instructed, patting her friend on the shoulder with a free hand. "You're _never _going to completely modernize them." 

Kagome made a face at the blonde's retreating back, then looked around. "Hey, has anyone seen Inu-Yasha?" 


	2. Chapter One, Bring on the Rain

A/N I Looooooooove rain. Love love love it. (unless it's storming.) So I called this story 'rain.' It's OAS (Only a Song) and every chapter title involves rain in some way, shape, or form. Except for the last one, which is a surprise. Here's the hitch. I need songs with the lyric 'rain' in them. Ex: Rain drops keep fallin' on my head. Bring on the rain.. Etc. I have some, so if you gimme one I already have, I'll tell you in your ty. K? K! include them in your review. Please? Pretty please? (This means YOU, Kaze-chan, you've gotta know at least some.) Yeah. If I like'm, I'll use them, and obviously, give the suggestor credit. K? k! And if I don't use them in this fic, I'll probably use them in another, so. ^_^. By the way, I forgot to say in the prologue: this is the SEQUAL to Someday We'll Know. If you haven't read it, BAKA! YOU FAIL!. Actually, no, you just won't understand most of this one. SO, you can either backtrack to my author listings; give up and go find a less difficult fic to read, OR, go to http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=667634. Bai-Bai!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Kagome is not mine. Inu-Yasha is not mine. Sango is not mine. Miroku is not mine. You get the idea.  
  
Bring on the Rain is not mine. It belongs to Messina Jo Dee.  
  
Siri and Aiko ARE mine. But I might put Aiko up for auction. I dunno. Hmmmm.  
  
A/N2: On a side note. from here on in, this is classic format. Phrase listed below the title. Full song at end of chapter. K? K.  
  
Rain  
  
Chapter One  
  
But tomorrow's another day  
  
And I'm thirsty anyway  
  
So bring on the rain.  
  
Kagome sighed in frustration, banging her head against her knees. "All right. Everyone has their bags." Nod. "Which are packed." Nod. "And in the car?" One last nod. "Miroku, you have your journal?" The monk coloured pink and nodded. "Siri, you've got your writing books? All fifteen? And your laptop? Sango, you've got your sketch pad and the newest shojo?" Both girls nodded. "Inu-Yasha, you've got your-"  
  
"Yeah, I've got it!" He interrupted hurriedly, growling as the three girls giggled. "It's not that funny."  
  
"Inu-Yasha, it's a doll." Miroku grinned, patting him on the back. The youkai growled.  
  
"It is not! It's a..."  
  
"Teddy bear?"  
  
"My mom gave it to me before she died, ok? It's important to me!"  
  
"What I want to know is, how'd he keep it hidden from us all school year?" Siri asked, pulling out a spiral and pencil.  
  
"Youkai secret." Kagome intoned seriously, causing all four to crack up again. Inu-Yasha sank lower in his bucket seat. She hugged Sota goodbye and clambered up into the passenger seat. She buckled in with a grin and leaned into the middle row to give Inu-Yasha a brief hug. Sango snuggled against Miroku and sketched absently, and those not otherwise occupied pulled out books.  
  
"Everyone ready?" Kagome's mother asked, turning the minivan on. ("It's a new car, Kagome. I categorically refuse to let you drive it, especially with that crew in back.") When everyone voiced some kind of affirmative, she turned the ignition and started them on their 3 hour journey to the college campus.  
  
§  
  
"Where are they?" Aiko grumbled, pressing her nose to the cool pane of glass in front of it. "They've got to be here somewhere... somewhere... YES!" she shrieked, hightailing it out of the dorm room and to the elevator. She punched the down button six or seven times, waiting for  
  
the elevator to come. It didn't. "Screw it..." she muttered, shoving the door to the stairway open and barreling down all the first flight of stairs at top speed. Behind her, the elevator doors glided open.  
  
§  
  
"AIKO!" Siri saw her first and charged the girl, meeting her halfway to the van. Determined to be as annoying as possible, Aiko promptly scooped the shorter girl up, twirling her, and dipping her backwards before giving her a proper hug. Siri growled and jumped up to whack her friend on the back of the head. "No fair! You grew! I thought we were supposed to STOP GROWING at some point?!" Aiko looked smug.  
  
"I had a growth spurt over the summer. Completely unexpected, but I grew three inches. I'm now 5'4"." Her 4'11" companion crossed her eyes at the girl and hissed like a cat. By the time she'd returned her face to normal, she realized Aiko was the victim of a pile on as the other four all tried to hug her at once. Three-Inu-Yasha had managed to restrain himself and keep some of his dignity and was standing back near Siri.  
  
She giggled, watching Aiko squirm under the two over-rambunctious hugging girls. Followed by three twin squeals of outrage.  
  
"Ten says Miroku just."  
  
"No bet." Inu Yasha growled back. "If he so much as touched Kagome, I'll-"  
  
"Hit him with your teddy bear?"  
  
Aiko looked up, squealing. "Inu-Yasha has a teddy bear?"  
  
Spotting the blooming grin on Miroku's face-and the blush on Inu-Yasha's- Kagome stepped in hurriedly. "I'm hungry. Siri, aren't you hungry?"  
  
Siri contemplated. "Nope." The smaller girl chirped, grinning wickedly. "It's fuzzy, Aiko. And it's missing an ear, and it has tooth marks on it from when he turns into a Youkai! And you can see where he ripped it and tried to mend it. We didn't find out until he needed me to restuff and sew it up for him."  
  
Aiko was positively glowing with joy, while Inu-Yasha had curled into himself and was whimpering helplessly. Kagome bit back her giggles and pulled him up. "C'mon, everyone, I really am hungry." Anxious to get the conversation off his teddy bear, Inu-Yasha nodded vigorously in agreement. The rest exchanged 'knowing' looks as they bounced off towards the cafeteria.  
  
"How's Kagome been over the summer?" Aiko asked Siri in a hushed voice. Sango and Miroku were on Siri's left, listening inobtrusively.  
  
"All right." Siri hissed back, glancing behind them to check if the two hanging back had heard. Kagome appeared completely unaware that they were discussing her. Inu-Yasha didn't appear to know. But Siri had no doubts whatsoever with his heightened sense of hearing, he could hear every word that passed their lips. "Quiet. Very, very quiet."  
  
"Shyer then normal." Miroku put in. "I've seen other women in the same situation, though. She's deffinatly dealing with it better then I'd expected. Especially considering the condition she was in that night."  
  
"Is it Inu-Yasha?" Aiko frowned.  
  
"Shippo, actually." Sango smiled. "Remember that month of class she missed, when she went home?"  
  
"I almost flunked Biology." Aiko responded dryly. "You had to tutor me. Hell, yes, I remember. Most hellish month of my life."  
  
Sango chuckled. "Glad I could be of service. Anyway. While they had her drugged in the hospitol, she was fine. She actually ended up leaving because the guys around her were simply too much. Shippo stayed with her family that month. Apparently she let him touch her before she'd let anyone else. It was very weird. One weekend we were down there and she could barely be looked at by Inu-Yasha and Miroku, the next she practically flung herself at them."  
  
"Shippo did all that?" Aiko looked impressed.  
  
"She seems to have the most trouble with strangers about our age." Miroku added. "Male strangers, that is. Shippo was young enough she didn't see him as a threat."  
  
Siri coughed slightly. "I also had a small talk with her." She admitted. "When you three were in the car and I ran back in to get my writing book."  
  
Miroku yelped. "You did WHAT! Siri, you could have."  
  
"Could have what?" Kagome called from behind them. Inu-Yasha had the slightly pained look of a dog who's just been found at the site of the mess the new puppy made. Sango almost wished she could see him in Youkai form, she was sure his ears would be plastered to his head. Undoubtably, Kagome had hit on the idea of making Inu-Yasha transcript the conversation ahead of them for her. "Well?" Kagome prompted as the other group stopped to let her and Inu-Yasha catch up. "What did Siri botch this time?"  
  
The statement was seconded as Siri and Aiko tumbled to the ground with a third, longhaired brunette. "Ooooooow."  
  
"Jesus!" The brunette hissed, pushing herself to her feet and running her hands through her waist-length tresses to free it of imaginary debris. "Good god, no wonder. 'S you, Sierra. Shoulda known. Haven't you ever heard of watching where you're going?"  
  
Siri glared at her. "Haven't YOU ever heard of-"  
  
"Siri, don't finish that thought." Aiko murmmered in her ear, hand clasped over her mouth. Siri waited for the girl to remove herself from hearing distance before chomping down, hard.  
  
"Who was that?" Sango spat, staring after the girl with distaste while Aiko nursed her injured hand. "Kagome? KAGOME? Who was that?" Kagome snapped her mouth shut and shook her head, averting her eyes from the form vanishing in the other direction.  
  
"That was-"  
  
"A major bitch." Siri optioned, pulling back her hair into a poofy bun-like thing high on the back of her head. "A major bitch. One we will not begin discussing." Her shoulders set rigidly, Siri marched off towards the cafeteria without even waiting to see if the others were following her.  
  
§  
  
Dinner was tense. Everyone knew better then to poke at Siri when she was in a tissy-she exploded like a jostled bottle of carbonated soda. Of course, if they left her to brood and got into a conversation themselves, then Siri would pout for excluding her. The only two pairs of people who could safely converse were Sango and Miroku and Kagome and Inu-Yasha, mainly because Siri didn't really WANT to be a part of their private conversations-and in most cases doubted she could without wretching. Aiko was relieved when everyone finished up and they group-migrated back to their dorms. Siri, also, had gotten over herself and was loosening up a bit, at least managing civil discussion with Kagome and Aiko. (Sango was otherwise occupied).  
  
Sending a disgusted glance at the two, Inu-Yasha coughed. "C'mon, Kagome, I can walk you back to your dorm."  
  
Kagome's eyes flashed. "I can do it myself." She pointed out. "Sango, Aiko, and Siri-Aiko and Siri are with me." She corrected herself. Aiko and Siri, hearing their names, looked up from mocking Sango and Miroku. Inu-Yasha looked about to have dryheaves.  
  
"Kagome."  
  
"No!"  
  
"I was going to say, don't make me go back to my dorm with those two."  
  
Sango and Miroku broke apart long enough to give him a glare.  
  
Kagome sighed, stepping foreward to hug him. "All right. I guess I can take pity on you." She teased, resting her head against his shoulder.  
  
Inu-Yasha was clearly uncomfortable with the display of affection but hugged her anyway, automatically stroking her hair. "Feh."  
  
"Aiko, we'll never escape. We'll be stuck somewhere between those two making out and those two cuddling for the rest of our lives."  
  
"Well, at least they're not likely to eat us." Aiko offered hopefully.  
  
"Don't bet on it." Inu-Yasha growled as Kagome dragged him towards the dorm. Snickering, the peanut gallery followed. Miroku and Sango didn't budge.  
  
§  
  
Kagome sighed, glancing out the window when she heard the bell chime. "You'd better get back before they check your dorm." she murmmered, brushing a strand of hair back from Inu-Yasha's forehead. The youkai sighed, lifting his head from her lap and scooting into a sitting position. "We're upperclassmen, shouldn't they be leaving us alone?" He pouted, raising an eyebrow. She chuckled.  
  
"Not for at least a week until after classes start, love." She leaned foreword to kiss him lightly on the cheek. "Go, will you? I'll  
  
see you in the morning. Send Sango back when you get to her dorm- assuming she's clothed, that is." Inu-Yasha snorted and nodded, hugging her tightly before jumping down lightly from Kagome's bed.  
  
"Night Aiko, night Siri."  
  
"Goodnight, Inu-Yasha!" they chorused in high, girly voices, giggling madly.  
  
"Feh."  
  
He trudged his way back to his own dorm, eyes flickering to every shadow in an attempt to locate any demons (or demon incarnates) lurking around campus. Surprisingly enough, he didn't find any. With a sigh, he pushed open the door to his dorm building (after swiping his pass key at the security desk in the lobby) and headed up to his room. He paused at the front door, almost afraid to knock. When he did, there was no answer. Hardly surprised, he pushed open the door, eyes averted from whatever might be there to see.  
  
"Wha time is it?" a sleepy Sango asked, sitting and doing up the last few buttons on one of Miroku's oversized shirts. Inu-Yasha thanked every deity he could name that the comforter was still puddled around her waist.  
  
"Almost curfew. You should head back to your dorm."  
  
"Tha's nice." She muttered, slinking back into the blankets.  
  
"SANGO!" he yelped when it appeared she had every intention of going back to sleep. "Put your clothing on and leave before we all get screwed here." He gave her a pitiful look. "Puh-leaaaase?"  
  
"Dun wanna. Jus' spend the night here."  
  
"It's too early in the semester. You'll get caught."  
  
"Won'."  
  
"She won'. Let 'er stay, Inu-Yasha." Miroku agreed. Inu-Yasha didn't want to think about how long he'd been awake. Sango cuddled down against his chest, giving Inu-Yasha a very pointed "see?" look. He wailed, flopping into his own bed. When Sango started making little yelps and whimpers (which he really didn't want to think to about,) he grabbed his headphones and slid them over his ears, silently thanking Kagome for introducing him to this modern day invention. All three started at the heavy pounding on the door. Sango sat bolt upright (Inu- Yasha scooted his head further under the pillows) and began swearing.  
  
"Toldja so." Came from the next bed over.  
  
"Sango!! Are you in there?" called a familiar voice. Sango and Miroku relaxed slightly.  
  
"Yeah, Siri, I'm on my way out." She called back.  
  
"Hurry your ass up. 'Ruka came to check and found you misisng, gave us 15 minutes to find you and get you back. And they haven't even preformed inspections in this dorm yet, I assume."  
  
"Nah, not yet, I'm hurrying, shut up."  
  
"Not this day or any other." Siri called cheerfully, tapping her foot and humming the Jeopardy song under her breath. Even though the refference was lost on the three in the room, some girls passing by in the hallway cracked up, at least. When Sango finally emerged (close enough to clothed to be decent) they had only two of their precious minutes left to make the run across campus back to their dorm. They arrived, panting, just in time to see Haruka emerge from the last room in the hall and start back towards their dorm. Yelping, they started from their end of the hallway and ran, tripping over each other in their haste to beat her to the dorm. Haruka raised an amused eyebrow at them, brushing back a long strand of loose blonde hair and taking a drag on her cigarette.  
  
"Inside, you two. Now, and I'll forget I saw you."  
  
Siri grinned and launched herself to hug the taller blonde around the waist, then pushed a protesting Sango into the room. "I don't really care what you forgot in that dorm, love, you can get it in the morning." Grumbling, Sango crawled into her bed and curled up in her blankets.  
  
"Why's it so cold in here?" She muttered. Siri shrugged, fetching her own blanket. Kagome and Aiko were already wrapped up to their noses.  
  
"I'll check with Haruka about it. Maybe our radiator's broken, it's not even that cold outside."  
  
§  
  
The next day dawned clear and chilly. Wishing to be early for their first day and worm their way into the teachers' good sides early, the girls were up earlier then normal and dressed in their regulation uniforms a good hour earlier then they needed to eat breakfast. Which turned out to be lucky, since it took the four of their combined efforts to wake up Inu-Yasha and Miroku.  
  
"This was so much easier when we had Shippo to jump on their stomachs." Sango muttered. Kagome was shaking Inu-Yasha gently, trying to get him to wake up and getting swatted at for her trouble. Fed up, Sango shook her head. "Stand back you three." She warned. Kagome shook her head. "No, Sango don't." Sango shook her head, pulling out the Hiraikotsu and whacking her sleeping boyfriend on the head. He was awake in moments, gibbering incoherently.  
  
25 minutes, an ice pack, four sets of clothing and a stolen teddybear later, both males of their party were reasonably awake and fully clothed, and the six of them made their way to breakfast, everyone except Siri and, surprisingly, Miroku grumbling about the hour.  
  
"Well, it's only this one day." Siri pointed out brightly, checking her schedule. "Tomorrow, we don't have class at all, Wednesday, not until 10, Thursday at noon and again at two, and Friday at 10 and two."  
  
Miroku blinked, studying his own schedule. "What are you talking about? Tomorrow we've got a 10 am class and then one at 3, then noon classes Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with more 8 ams on Wednesday and Friday. Confused, Siri grabbed his schedule, scanning it. "Kagome, can I see yours?"  
  
They plopped down at a table, having made their way through the cafeteria line. Each schedule was handed to Siri in turn as she compared them. "I don't believe this. after having almost every class together last year, we have. like, none, this year."  
  
Aiko grabbed the schedules.  
  
"Lemme see those. Who the hell signed all of us up for 8 AM calc? Ok. Kagome, you have extra math classes with your major." Kagome muttered something that sounded like, 'oh, joy' around a mouthful of rice. "Sango, you and I are sharing some late night art courses. Miroku. I dunno how the hell you're going to manage all of this. Inu- Yasha, you have some law courses none of the rest of us our in, and Siri's managed to jam every last writing course offered onto the schedule, of which the rest of us are sharing one, for credit. Must be the majors, glad I don't have one." Aiko smirked, passing back schedules.  
  
"Yeah, but class of the useless this year is scheduled at 8 AM and you have it twice a week since you're a junior."  
  
Wailing, Aiko's head connected with the table.  
  
  
  
"Honestly, Aiko." Kagome was commenting as they lounged by the fountain after lunch. "Just declare yourself Independent to get out of the class. Graduate as an international woman of mystery." Aiko gave her a dry look as Siri, Miroku, and Inu-Yasha cracked up. Sango came trotting up to join them.  
  
"Look what I found!" She cheered, handing the cluster a piece of paper.  
  
  
  
"Journey to America!  
  
Join your classmates on a tour of the United States, from Sea to Shining Sea.  
  
Visit New York! Orlando! Chicago! Minneapolis! All the way across the country to San Francisco and Los Angeles!"  
  
  
  
Siri shrieked. "We should go!" Kagome, however, was focused on something else.  
  
"That's. that's. a LOT of money!"  
  
Siri shrugged. "I can handle it."  
  
Sango thought. "I have enough left over from royalties for my manga."  
  
"I should have enough from tarot readings and exorcisms over the summer." Miroku added at the same time as Aiko said, "Mom and dad have been doting on me since last fall and don't forget, Kagome, they're still paying you compensation payments."  
  
Kagome glanced at Inu-Yasha. "What about you?"  
  
The youkai shook his head. "I don't think I have enough." He admitted, reading the paper. "Asking people, 'Would you like fries with that?' doesn't pay as hot as preforming exorcisms."  
  
She shrugged. "I think my family has enough. and I can stretch my compensation to cover..."  
  
"Absolutely not." He stated firmly.  
  
She raised an eyebrow, taking one of his hands and dragging him away from the group. "Listen to me. I. Want. To. Go. To. America. And I am not leaving you here for three months. Now, which is better? Borrowing some leftover money from the rest of us and damaging your pride, or the eternal pain and torment I -promise- to put you through if you do not come along on this trip?"  
  
He opened his mouth and began, "Borrowing-"  
  
"Sit." She stated calmly.  
  
"Would be ok." He croaked from the ground. Whooping, she leaned down and kissed him thouroughly before leaping over his prone body and shouting. "Hey guys! We're going to America!!"  
  
  
  
Another day has almost come and gone  
  
Can't imagine what else could go wrong  
  
Sometimes I'd like to hide away  
  
somewhere and lock the door  
  
A single battle lost but not the war  
  
  
  
Cause tomorrow's another day  
  
And I'm thirsty anway  
  
So bring on the rain  
  
  
  
Its almost like the hard times circle 'round  
  
A couple drops and they all start coming down  
  
Yeah, I might feel defeated,  
  
And I might hang my head  
  
I might be barely breathing -  
  
but I'm not dead (no)  
  
  
  
Cause tomorrow's another day  
  
And I'm thirsty anyway  
  
So bring on the rain  
  
  
  
No I'm not gonna let it get me down,  
  
I'm not gonna cry  
  
And I'm not gonna lose any sleep tonight  
  
  
  
Cause tomorrow's another day  
  
And I am not afraid  
  
So bring on the rain  
  
  
  
Tomorrows another day  
  
And I'm thirsty anyway  
  
So bring on the rain  
  
  
  
(Bring on, Bring on the rain)  
  
  
  
No I'm not gonna let it get me down  
  
No I'm not gonna cry  
  
So bring on the rain....  
  
  
  
A/N: GOMEN THIS IS SO LATE! GOMEN GOMEN GOMEN GOMEN!!!!! I LOVE YOU! I'LL BE BETTER, I PROMISE  
  
Emmi-chan- Teehee, thanks, though at the rate I put out chapters, not much to look foreward to.  
  
Jezunya- I know, I know, you said quickly. I'm soooooooooooo sorry  
  
Katie- *blush* thank you. I try, at least  
  
KurroNeko-Yasha-Thankees, babe. Long enough for ya? ^_~.  
  
Lli- Teehee, thank you.  
  
Marts- Indeed, you are the Marty I so charmingly reffer to. I wuv you! And call me, I wanna discuss a co- authored Harry Potter thingeemabobber. *offers bribes of Remmie/Siri slash*  
  
Naoko Cat Girl- Teehee, it's allright. I'm hurrying. I'll try to be quicker in the future, gomen for the wait.  
  
UsagiPegasus- Wheeeee, you're back!!! Hiii! *glomps and giggles* thankee 


	3. Chapter Two, A Day Without Rain

A/N: I need those lyrics, my loves.   
About the formatting… *crosses her eyes* we're working on it. My apologies. We'll get it done soon enough. Fanfiction.net reads HTML my arse. *snerks* This is kinda short, my apologies, the next chapter will be better. 

Disclaimer: If I owned them, the books would be released in English at the same time as the Japanese. None of this "translation" stuff, I can write both. ^_^. 

No… really… I can… 

A Day Without Rain is NOT mine. It's Enya's. which leads me to... 

Thank yous! This chapter has been dedicated to Jezunya! She gave me this song, and is a model example of why ALL OF YOU SHOULD READ MY AUTHOR'S NOTES. 

Yep. That'll happen. 

Annnnnnnd besides her dedication, for her help she gets this lovely stuffed Inu-chan plushie, Houjo's head on a platter, and major hugglies from me. Thank you SOOOOOOO SOOOOOO much. 

Random thought: My father wants James Earl Jones to replace Richard Harris as Dumbledore. "Harry… I am your father…" 

****

Chapter 2

A Day Without Rain

Ever close your eyes?

Ever stop and listen?

Ever feel alive

And you've nothing missing?

"Hard to believe.." Siri commented, looking around at their dorm room. 

"Hmm?" Kagome asked, looking from where she and Sango were reviewing the travel booklet, stretched out on Kagome's bed in her sleeping bag, since her normal blanket (Sango had a sneaking suspicion it had been made out of Inu-Yasha's old Yukata) was packed for the trip. Due to the absence of little things like that, the entire room looked oddly barren. Bags were piled on the two small tables, all four laptops stuffed into well padded duffels. Siri's sewing machine was boxed, perched out of the way on top of the dresser. Enough clothing for three weeks (the brochure assured them they wouldn't need any more for the four month visit) were tucked into their bags—two people per bag. Most of their books, except the ones they'd been ordered to bring, had been resold to the campus bookstore, they wouldn't be back until the third trimester of the year. Siri's Wizard Of Oz movie poster still hung taped to the wall, with Aiko's Gundam Wing and Fushigi Yugi posters, but the small knick knacks that usually cluttered the rooms—Siri's books, Aiko's ratty stuffed hippo, Sango's shoujo pages scattered over the floor—were all missing. The bookcases were empty, the floors clean, the beds made. The room looked like it _could _be lived in… it just _wasn't. _

"This." Siri waved a hand. "It looks like we're packing up to leave, which I normally associate with the end of the year, but it's only November. And everything looks out of place!" 

"Why?" Sango deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. "Because it's not scattered on the floor?" 

"Errrr…" Siri looked sheepish.

Aiko poked her head through the open door, Miroku and Inu-Yasha behind her, 'how did we get into this?' expressions on their faces.. "Guys, they want our bags down in the quad so they can load them into the busses…" Siri, Sango, and Kagome cast disdainful looks at the bags. 

"Getting those down the hall and into the elevator is going to be… an adventure." Kagome mused, searching for words as she neared the end of her sentence. 

"You mean, a pain in the ass." Siri corrected, gazing at the two overfull heavy duffels. 

"Hey, guys, no sweat." Aiko pointed out, jerking her head back in gesture towards the two behind her. "We got muscle." Sango cackled while Kagome cocked a cynical eyebrow. 

"You two don't mind?" 

"Bloody hell, _YES, _we—" Inu-Yasha paused to bite down, hard, on Miroku's hand, which had effectively covered his mouth before he could finish. Miroku winced, but didn't remove his hand. The only response they head was a rather muffled, "feh." 

Giggling, the girls all grabbed their carryon bags, which were considerably lighter then the two duffels. While Miroku and Inu-Yasha each grabbed a duffle, the girls caught the elevator, chattering excitedly about the trip. Occasionally, one of them would try to drag the guys into the conversation, only to be greeted by grunts and, in Inu-Yasha's case, stifled yelps of terror while the elevator was moving. 

Eventually, they reached the Quad. Busses were parked by the road, and the luggage already there was hurriedly being loaded into the bottom cargo holds. 

"We're goin' to this place by bus?" Miroku hissed. Kagome, Aiko, and Siri glanced at him and cracked up. 

"Sorry…" Kagome managed eventually. "No, Miroku. We can't cross the ocean in a car. We're taking the busses to an airport, from there, an airplane--" there was a shriek from Inu-Yasha. 

"Nu-_uh. _I saw those things! Nothing that big should rightfully be able to float that way. Or that high" He shook his head vehemently.

The others exchanged glances. "Inu-Yasha, it's perfectly safe. Siri takes them all the time, to go from here to Texas and back…" 

"Yeah!" Siri put in, smiling brightly. "don't worry, Inu-Yasha, they're just big elevators…"

Aiko choked down a laugh at the horrified look on Inu-Yasha's face. Kagome sighed. "Siri, dear, you aren't helping…" Siri's face split into a bright, cheery grin that clearly said, 'I know.' Inu-Yasha groaned again. Kagome couldn't help it, she started giggling slightly. "I'm sorry, love…" She gasped, seeing the hurt look on his face. "Just… the way you looked…" She dissolved into laughter again. 

"Feh." 

Inu-Yasha sat in his seat, curled in a tiny ball and wincing. He had Kagome on one side, Siri on the other. Across the aisle from them, Aiko and Sango looked suffering while Miroku pressed his nose to the glass, squealing in delight. Aiko glanced at Siri. "We haven't even started moving yet, Miroku." She pointed out wearily. 

"But we're so high off the ground! And the windows are so _weird! _And…" 

"Yes, dear. We know." Sango sighed. Even though she, too, had never been on a plane, she was doing a better job of containing her enthusiasm then her lover. Kagome stifled a giggle, leaning against Inu-Yasha, who'd slumped down in his chair like he was trying to hide. 

"It's all right." She promised him as the airplane began to taxi down the runway. Poor Inu-Yasha sat, huddled in his chair, determinedly not looking out the window at the turns of the runways. He dared a glance up as the airplane pulled to a halt at the runway. Kagome shook her head silently. "You know, for someone who can actually fly…" she teased, watching him. The airplane started again, gaining speed as it continued down the runway. Inu-Yasha meeped and sunk further into his chair as the plane angled itself upwards and took off the ground. 

When the landing gear retracted and jarred the plain, the look on Inu-Yasha's face spoke that he was going to be physically ill. 'Helpfully,' Siri passed him a barf bag. 

Miroku just thought the whole thing was really, really cool. 

The plane steadied when they reached cruising altitude, and Inu-Yasha relaxed a bit, actually looking out the window. By the time the stewardesses came around with drinks and snacks, he'd not only calmed downed, he'd asked Kagome if they could switch so he could look out the window. Relieved, she'd complied, and bent her head together with Siri so they could discuss a plot complication that was stalling Siri in her latest story. Overjoyed by his friend's newfound enthusiasm, Miroku engaged him in conversation over all four girls' heads (literally), leaving them to their own devices to amuse themselves. Luckly, this was not a tenth of the disaster it would have been had their positions been reversed. Mid-flight found their positions reversed once more, Aiko curled up next to Inu-Yasha, reading, Siri curled up next to her, dozing under a pair of blankets. Kagome and Sango were on the other side of the aisle with Miroku, talking quietly and explaining to everyone giving them odd looks that Miroku and Inu-Yasha had never ridden on a plane before. Since most of the campus who knew them thought they were bumpkins anyway, Kagome thought the not-entirely plausible explanation went over rather well. 

By the time the beverage cart had come around a third time, about an hour before they began to land, their positions had again changed. Siri was still asleep, a third blanket added to her pile, making her look like a large, blue lump. Kagome was dozing next to her, sleepily trying to regain her blanket, leaving little doubt of where the third had come from. Aiko was across the aisle from them, also asleep, leaving Sango alone to sketch and brave the two over-excited boys. ("It's smooth enough that you can draw? Even the car is too bumpy for you to draw in..."). Soon enough, Sango put down her drawing and followed in the footsteps of her friends, head pillowed against Miroku's shoulder.

Eventually, even the joy for Miroku wore off, and he too fell asleep, head resting on top of Sango. None of them stirred until Inu-Yasha woke them up for their layover in Glasgow.

The blue, dotted carpet of the airport terminal was covered in backpacks and half full mini duffels. Teens stretched out in the aisles, heads pillowed against messenger bags. Discmans had been removed from bags and hooked to headphones, cd cases scattered between groups of students. 

"Why did they have to choose such a long layover?" Aiko wailed softly, her head resting on Kagome's stomach. 

"Prices." Kagome answered, head resting in Inu-Yasha's lap.

"Why did we have to have a layover at _all?" _ Siri asked, flopping onto her side. 

"Prices." 

"Feh." 

Sango and Miroku returned, arms full of goodies from a nearby concession stand. Siri perked up brightly. "Got my cherry coke?" Wordlessly, Miroku handed her a 20 oz as he and Sango took seats on the ground next to Inu-Yasha, leaning back against a group of empty seats. 

"You two are making the next run." He informed Inu-Yasha as he passed Kagome and Aiko a sprite. 

Inu-Yasha nodded in agreement, tearing open a bag of potato chips. 

"Flight # 116 to New York, Flight #116 to New York, Takeoff time has been delayed due to technical difficulties. We apologize for the inconvenience—" College students spread throughout the terminal moaned loudly. 

"Another _hour?_" Inu-Yasha half wailed, half bellowed. 

"At _least._" Kagome muttered. 

"I need more munchies." Siri moaned, regarding her empty bag of chips. 

"Three hours." Kagome muttered, browsing the wall of cheap paperbacks and magazines. "I don't believe we've been out there for _three hours." _

"And counting." Inu-Yasha muttered, standing behind her, arms full of snacks, "bestsellers," and bad romance novels Kagome'd piled on him. "Harry Potter or Lord of The Rings?" 

"Potter ma-thing. I believe Siri has a copy of Lord of the Rings in her bag." 

Kagome considered and grabbed the paperback copies of all four Harry Potter books. She'd read them before, but hey, they were in English AND the British releases, they were cute. A sudden thought occurred to her. 

"Inu-Yasha, can you even read English?" 

"Errm..." he shifted uncomfortably. "Kind of. Miroku's better, Sango's better then him, why?" 

"Cuz otherwise no one but me and Siri will be reading this. Aiko pretends her language is good, but..." she snickered slightly and Inu-Yasha shook his head. "We'll read them. Don't worry. Why not get some've those game magazines?" 

Kagome picked up one and browsed through it. "Maybe..." she mused. "I know Siri likes the table problems..." Mind made up, she grabbed a general one, one of crosswords, one of table problems, one of mazes and one of word searches. "Here. We've got pencils back there. And get some extra batteries incase our Discmans start running out. Anything else you can think of?" He shook his head. All she saw was is bangs bobbing over the stack of stuff in his arms. Laughing, she took half of it and dumped it on the counter. As the clerk was ringing up their purchases, she felt someone else dump their stuff on the counter next to her. She glanced over, recognizing the tall, slim figure with long brown hair. "Hey Sabrina."

When the girl glanced at her, Inu-Yasha recognized her as the rude one with the sycophants who'd knocked Siri over the other day on the quad. She brushed a bang out of her face and half-smiled. "Kagome, hey. Buying for an army there?" 

Kagome nodded, strained. "Something like that. I'm surprised you aren't."

"Akane went and got stuff for pretty much everyone, but I didn't really trust her to get me what I asked for, so here i am." 

"Woe is you." Kagome muttered, grabbing their bags. "How _is _Akane?"

"Hmm? Oh, Akane's fine." The girl Kagome'd addressed as Sabrina dragged her eyes away from Inu-Yasha. She sounded as though she didn't know and really couldn't care less. Kagome appeared to have noticed, too. "Nice baggage." Sabrina continued, eyes back on Inu-Yasha. 

"I'm not the one with baggage here." Kagome said softly, taking the last bag and turning to go. Sabrina pasted on a sticky sweet smile.   
"Oh, that's right, Sierra forbid you from talking to me, didn't she? Sorry, wouldn't want to get you in trouble with mommy..." 

"C'mon, Inu-Yasha." Kagome muttered. "Goodbye, Sabrina. Tell Akane I said hi." 

Sabrina's mouth twitched with what she obviously considered victory. "Sure, whatever. Bye, Inu-Yasha." 

He gave her a confused, polite nod, and followed Kagome off. The terminal was across the hall, they were nearly back when he noticed Kagome was holding her shoulders rather stiffly. "Kagome?" He asked softly. 

She shook her head as he turned her to face him, smiling slightly. "It's nothing. She just... gets under my skin." He nodded, knowing it was deeper, but not daring to press. 

"Let me help with the bags, at least?" Not that it mattered, they were nearly back at their seats. 

She nodded in agreement and handed him half of them as they crossed the last few feet. Inu-Yasha noticed Siri's eyes locked on them since they'd left the store. 

"Why do you even try being civil?" he heard her ask softly as Kagome handed Siri another cherry coke. Kagome just shook her head rather sadly. 

A/N: Well, another chapter come and gone. They'll reach america... some day. 

**__**

Rain Akugi! 

Inu-Yasha: Let me help with the bags, at least?   
Kagome: Cewtainly! You take the blond, and I'll take the one in the toibin!

Inu-Yasha: -.-;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

****

Thank You: 

Emmi-Chan: That's cuz it WAS long. Almost twice as long as I normally make my chapters. But this ones short. Heh... sorry... You met Jo Dee Messina? COOOOOL! Teehee, Bring On The Rain actually inspired this story when I heard it in a movie theatre. 

****

Ichu: no problem, my new muses have REALLY pulled me out of my slump. Thanks for reading!! I'll try to be better about timing in the near future. 

****

Strawberry Goodness: Yay! Glad you liked it! Yeah, i know, I'm sorry. The formatting troubles I've had with FF.Net... let's not even go there. But it should be better soon. Thanks for wading your way through anyway!

****

Usagipegasus: Yup, America, here they come. Are you as frightened as I? 

__

Ever close your eyes?

Ever stop and listen?

Ever feel alive

And you've nothing missing?

You don't need a reason,

Let the day go on and on.

Let the rain fall down

Everywhere around you.

Give into it now,

Let the day surround you.

You don't need a reason,

Let the rain go on and on.

What a day, what a day to take to.

What a way, what a way to make it through.

What a day, what a day to take to a wild child.

Only take the time 

From the helter skelter.

Every day you find,

Everything's in kilter,

You don't need a reason,

Let the day go on and on.

Every summer sun,

Every winter evening,

Every spring to come,

Every autumn leaving.

You don't need a reason,

Let it all go on and on. 

What a day, what a day to take to.

What a way, what a way to make it through.

What a day, what a day to take to a wild child.


	4. Chapter Three, Candy Rain

A/N: Helllloooooo my loves! Sorry about the delay, last weekend was WindyCon, so… 

Speaking of, if bits of this seem weird, it's only because they were written at Four AM in the Schaumburg Hyatt's lobby in my notebook… which I promptly fell asleep and started drooling on… heh… yeah… 

Oh, on a side note… Sabby and Akane are new chars, I'm sorry if I confused anyone. Sabby _was _mentioned briefly in the last story… Points to the person who guesses who she is!

To the… two of you who read these things. I like you two. So I'm gonna give ya a warning. This story is going to get rather dark, very fast. Starting next chapter. And darker with every chapter that passes. No darker then SWK was, just… dark for longer. 

Disclaimer: So not mine. Except for Aiko, Siri, Sabby, Akane, Haruka, the plot, uhm… Inu-Yasha… *steals him and hides him behind her back* I own him, really!

This chapter is for Kaze-Chan. 8 songs? You rock my world, babe. 

****

My love, do you ever dream of 

Candy coated raindrops? 

You're the same, my candy rain

Candy Rain

Chapter 3

Kagome straggled into her hotel room and collapsed on one of the twin beds. "I… hate… airplanes!" 

Aiko glanced at the pair of feet hanging over the edge of the bed. "Feelings mutual." She agreed, dropping her bag on the ground. "Which room did Sango and Siri say they were in?" 

"243." Kagome responded promptly. "I'll call 'm, but mostly I wanna sleep." 

Aiko nodded, dragging out a pair of pajamas and dragging them over her head, somehow managing to strip her top at the same time. Shaking her head at Aiko, Kagome picked up the phone and dialed the room extension. 

"Hey?" Siri's tired voice picked up. 

"Hey, Siri. What're you guys doin'?" 

"_I'm _going to sleep." The blonde smirked, glancing over her shoulder at her room mate. She covered the he speaker with her hand. "Sango, whatcha doing?" 

"Geroff the phone, I wanna call Miroku." Came the reply. 

"Already talked to him." Called Kagome's voice, muffled by Siri's hand. "He and Inu-Yasha are crashing, too." 

"Siri nodded, absently pacing toe room. Sango, you hear that?" she turned the thermostat up a few degrees. . 

"Uuuu-huh. What's the schedule after that?"

Siri plopped down on the bed, leafing through the information packet. "Mm… there's a tour tomorrow at ten AM. That's in six hours. But it repeats another four hours after that. Course, if we take the later tour, that only gives us three hours to get ready for the Broadway show" 

"Sleeping for ten hours sounds good." Kagome agreed. "Should we meet in the hotel lobby like… a half hour before then?" 

"Sounds good. I'll call the guys." 

"Kagome nodded in tired agreement. "k. thanks." 

"No problem, babe." Came Siri's voice as she hit the 'talk' button on the phone and put it back in the cradle. 

"Aiko, set the alarm, wouldja?" At her friend's agreement, she muttered a half-vocal goodnight and began the struggle to sleep away her jetlag. 

§

Pulling her jacket tighter around her arms, Kagome snuggled against Inu-Yasha for extra warmth. "The idea of a double-decker bus tour of the city is cute," she muttered, "but not so great in reality when it's winter." Sango, in the seat behind her, nodded vigorously. The six had crammed into two rows on the bus, Aiko, Kagome, and Inu-Yasha pressed together for warmth in the front, Siri, Sango, and Miroku cuddled in a blanket behind them. Well, at least Sango and Miroku were—Siri, as usual, didn't seem to notice in the slightest. 

"So not cool…" Aiko muttered. 

"C'mon, you guys, it's not that bad. It's only an hour long trip and it's been 52 minutes at last." Siri pointed out. 

"GOOD." Wailed the others, clutching each other. They paid little attention as the driver completed his spiel and they passed by the harbor—and consequently, the Statue of Liberty before pulling to a halt in front of their hotel. They tripped over each other as they piled out of the bus in a rush to reach the warmth of the hotel lobby, just beyond the double doors. 

"I'm hungry." Miroku opinioned, glancing around for food. 

"When are you not?" Aiko muttered, earning herself a glare. 

"Actually, I agree with him, for once." Kagome admitted sheepishly. "Isn't there a little hotel restaurant around here somewhere?" Siri pointed dryly. "Ehehehe… right…" Kagome muttered. 

They placed their orders at the counter and settled back in a large booth to wait. Their food was out promptly—possibly due to the look Inu-Yasha and Miroku were giving the poor waitress who delivered their drinks—and the conversation faded as they dealt with their munchies. 

They were just figuring tip and picking up their stuff when the door creaked open and they heard a familiar settling into the booth behind them. "Haruka?" 

Siri turned over and stood on her knees to see over the back of the booth., "Thought it was you! Hey, I…." She trailed off when she saw the group of people her Dorm Supervisor was dining with. 

Kagome, Sango, and Aiko followed Siri's example, peering over the edge at the sound of Haruka's name, to find themselves met by a Sabrina's piercing blue eyes. "Do you guys MIND?" 

Siri's mouth snapped shut and her lips pressed into a thin line. "I have more of a right to talk to my friends as you do, Sabrina. You don't even have a right to _exist._" Five sets of hands covering her mouth and five arms wrapped around her middle prevented her from continuing that train of thought or lunging at the other girl. 

Sabrina opened her mouth to respond but was similarly stopped by a smaller girl who laid a hand on her arm lightly. Sabrina seemingly remembered herself and shook her head in apology at the black haired girl. Siri was bundled out of the booth and restaurant quickly. Before they slipped out the door, Kagome traded a small smile and a wave with the other girl.

§

Miroku, cradling a hand with a clear set of bite marks on the palm, shook his head. "Honestly, Siri, what's between the two of you anyway." 

Siri shrugged. 

"C'mon…" Sango urged. "We need to know if there's a reason we restrain you or if we should just _let _you pound the bitch." 

Stony silence. 

"Who was the little girl who was with her?" 

"Feh." 

"You're officially not aloud to spend any more time around Inu-Yasha." 

Kagome shook her head, herding out the peanut gallery… namely, the two males. "I'll explain later. Go. We have 2 hours to get ready for the show. That's by far not enough time." 

They were out the door before Miroku had a chance to make his comment about "helping" them dress. 

§

"We were roommates." Siri admitted over her gnocchi campagnola. She chewed on another tiny dumpling. "Before I moved into Shikon Dorm. I had the money to be in a larger room, obviously, so did she, we were actually sharing one of the suites in the dorm building across from yours." 

Jaws dropped. Everyone knew Siri's parents were wealthy, but she rarely flaunted it. The suites were huge, two roomed plus one bathroom for every two room. A far cry from the Shikon dorms, which featured one bathroom for the entire floor _and _crammed four people into one tiny room. "You… you were in one've those places and you switched to the cheapest dorm on campus!?" Miroku stuttered. Siri flushed, picking at her food. 

"Sabrina and I didn't get along. It was a matter of principle.." she muttered. Inu-Yasha snorted. 

"Principle? Those things are nicer then the frat and sorority houses!" 

"Yeah, never get her to tell you how much those things cost a term." Kagome muttered around a mouthful of Eggplant Parmesan. Siri shot her a dirty glare. 

"What about the little girl?" Sango prodded. 

"Akane." Siri grinned a bit. "She's Sabrina's cousin. Sweetest little thing… she's only 17, smarter then me in some ways… and very close to her cousin." 

"17?" Inu-Yasha interrupted. "She looked more like 13." 

"I dormed with her last year." Kagome added. "She spent most of the time with Sabrina, though. Siri used to switch beds with her and come hang around with me on weekends."

"How come her parents couldn't afford to have her living in the lap of luxury? If she's that close to her cousin, you'd think her aunt and uncle…" 

"Sabrina's aunt and uncle are even more snobbish then Sabrina and my parents combined." Siri interrupted, pulling a face. "And they looked down on Akane because her father was a Japanese immigrant and her mother was Vietnamese war bride or something." 

Sango blinked. "So?" 

"So?" Siri shrugged bitterly. "She's '_low class.' _Bad blood." The three still looked lost. 

"Think of it the way Sesshomaru felt about the majority of humans." Kagome elaborated. Sango, Miroku, and Inu-Yasha let out 'o's of enlightenment.

"Oook…" Miroku was clearly chewing on thins, thinking for one. "So you like Akane… why the grr argyness between you and Sabrina?" 

Siri's face closed off. "It's personal." 

§

"That was great!" Siri cheered, spilling out of the theatre with a crowd of other people. 

Kagome dabbed at her eyes, shoving down sniffs. "It was so sad, though…" She murmured, wiping a stray hand across her cheeks and clinging to Inu-Yasha's hand with the other. Sango and Aiko nodded in agreement, clinging to each other. Inu-Yasha shot Miroku a helpless look, Miroku only smiled and shook his head. 

"It was funny, though." Siri countered. "One've the best productions of it I've ever seen. The silhouetted scenes was incredibly well executed." 

The others blinked at her. "You've seen it before?" 

"My parents bought me the special edition DVD after I wore out three copies on VHS." 

"No WONDER she's not in tears…" Kagome muttered. Siri stuck her tongue out at Kagome and walked off, humming under her breath. 

"Attend the tail of Sweeny Todd,"

"Attend the tail of Sweeny Todd!" Aiko and Sango seconded from behind her. 

Miroku shook his head. "Honestly, you two, I really think it's the last scene that deserves most of the credit." 

Inu-Yasha shook his head. "I didn't get it." The other five sweatdropped.

Siri and Kagome worked at trying to explain it to him, at the same time, talking over each other. They only succeeded in making him more confused. 

"Horses!" Sango cried out, startling the three out of their argument. Three heads looked up at the same time to glance at where she was pointing. 

"HORSES!" Aiko and Kagome seconded. Siri blinked. 

"So?" 

The three excited girls ignore her. "Innnnu-Yasha, can we go for a carriage ride around the park?" Kagome's eyes were wide. "Pleeeeeeease?" 

Inu-Yasha blinked, eyes fixed on the large beasts. "Uh… sure?" 

Whooping, Kagome grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the line of waiting carriages. The others followed, Aiko edging herself behind Siri. 

"Are they safe?" She hissed as Inu-Yasha and Kagome clambered into one carriage and Miroku gallantly lifted Sango into another. Siri snorted. 

"Are you kidding? For these things were any more mellow they'd have to be sedated." She steered Aiko around the carriage, leaving a wide berth between them and the horse's feet. "May I?" she asked the driver. Seeing she knew what she was doing, the woman flashed Siri a smile and gave her a thumbs up. Siri stood in front of the horse and motioned Aiko to stand behind her so they wouldn't startle the animal by touching it behind it's blinders. The horse blinked at her. Grinning, Siri leaned down and breathed gently in the horses nostrils. The horse perked it's head up and let a woof of air back at her as she reached up to stroke it's cheek. "Try it, Aiko." She instructed, taking a step back. Timidly, the taller girl stepped foreword and stroked up the horses nose. "We need carrots." Siri remarked. "Wanna go for a ride?" 

Aiko still seemed unsure. "He seems calm enough… then again, maybe not." She backed away hurriedly as the horse stamped his foot. Siri shook her head, clucking to sooth him. "You mind, Sir?" 

Siri grinned. "I'll live." She assured the other girl ad the two carriages carrying their friends pulled up to the back of the line. She grabbed Aiko by the hand to drag her to join them. "C'mon." Kagome was bouncing and Inu-Yasha looked like he was trying to be bored, which was never a good situation. Sango and Miroku joined them, and together the oversized group bounced their way back to the hotel. 

§

"Hey, Sango, you wanna come up to the room with me?" Miroku asked quietly as they made their way up the circle drive in front of the hotel. The girl blinked for a moment before catching on and nodding. 

"Uh…. Sure!" 

Inu-Yasha wailed softly, watching them. "the teachers are getting even more tissy about curfew since we're 'representing the school.'" His matronly imitation of the rather prissy school dean was exactly on target. "I should probably go chaperone those two before they get all of us into trouble." 

Kagome winced and nodded her agreement, reaching up to hug him. "Sorry, babe. I'll see you in the morning, k?" He returned the hug and nodded, heading off after the lovers with a rather pitiful expression on his face. The three girls followed them up in the second elevator, reaching their floor and heading down the hall to Aiko and Kagome's room. "Wanna come in?" Kagome asked, slipping her card-key in and turning the handle as the little light flashed green. 

Siri shook her head. "No thanks. I should probably go wait in case I need to help Inu-Yasha drag Sango out of there." Kagome snickered, giving the other girl a hug. 

"All right. Talk to you in the morning, then, I wanna go shopping." Siri cheered in agreement, waving before starting down the hall to her own room. It took her a minute to locate her room-key—she noticed with a slight grin she had Sango's to, and kept it for blackmail. Immediately inside the room she kicked off her shoes, flipping the light in the bathroom on as she walked down the short, narrow hall towards the beds. She flipped the light on another lamp as one hand absently reached up to unclasp the earrings from her earlobes. She was reaching for the brush when something caught her attention in the mirror. Turning slowly, she blinked. 

A single, long-stemmed red rose lay diagonally across her pillow.

AN: WOW that took a long time. Heh, sorry folks. Nothing really to say, I guess, except it took me FOREVER to find a good set of song lyrics. Most of them have been designated to chapters—or certain events—already. 

****

Jezunya: Thanks! And yeah, in case you didn't catch it up above, Sabby and Akane are new. But don't worry, you'll get plenty of them in the next two chapters. 

Strawberry Goodness: thanks! And do you mind if I use that idea? Cuz it's just SO CUTE! Ehehe…

Tipi: nope, haven't given up yet! Bwaha. Thanks for reading!

__

My love, do you ever dream of 

Candy coated raindrops? 

You're the same, my candy rain 

Have you ever loved someone 

So much you thought you'd die?

Giving so much of yourself 

It seems the only way 

Tell me what you want, 

and I 

And I will give it to you '

Cause you are 

My love

Did you ever dream that it could be so right 

I never thought that I would find 

All that I need in life 

All I want, all I need now 

I know I know I found it in you 

I found it in you 'cause you are


	5. Chapter 4, Here Comes The Rain Again

A/N: Hellllloooo! Back again. Two chapters in one week, don't you love me? *sniff* Clearly not, since no one's reviewing. I feel unloved. Oh well. People are still reading this. I hope. Riiiight? I hope it doesn't have a bad case of Sequal-itis, I'm actually enjoying writing it. Someone tell me if it's bad, won't you? I can take a little constructive criticism. *pokes Kaze-chan and Jezunya pointedly* Of course... not that I'll believe you if you tell me it's good...
    I'm really excited... this looks like it may be almost twice the length of SWK. Wowwies. OH! By the way, i forgot to mention in the last chapter. Candy Rain isn't mine, it's Soul 4 Real's. I claim no ownership. Which leads me to...
    Word association!
    Inu-Yasha, A Feudal Fairy Tale =Rumiko Takahashi
    Here Comes The Rain Again = Eurithmics
    Ree-chan =broke high school student who can't even afford Christmas presents for her friends.
    Notice a pattern? I thought you might
    Warnings: Mild Stalking Tendencies and lots of mysterious, swirly mist. Yes, I'm referring to the inside of Siri's head. It really is empty!!
    **A/N 2: I know what you're all thinking. REE-CHAN! WHAT THE HELL? IT'S BEEN FOREVER! This was up, before, but ff.net screwed with the formatting and GAH. So here we go. Take two. Really, this time. My humblest apologies.
    Here comes the rain again-
    Falling on my head like a memory,
    Falling on my head like a new emotion.
    **

****

Here Comes The Rain Again

Chapter 4

"Siri?" the blonde girl spun around hurriedly, dropping the rose. One of the thorns dragged across her palm, leaving a shallow cut. The girl in the door frowned in worry, twisting her hand in her long, black ponytail. "Sir, you're bleeding." 

She looked down and blinked. "Oh… yeah." Siri muttered, grabbing a Kleenex and pressing it to her hand. With the other hand, she held out the rose to Sango. "Here, I think Miroku left this on the wrong bed." She forced a smile. "After all, it's not like I've got anyone leaving me roses, right?" Sango blinked but took the rose, wary of the thorns that had already caused Siri so much trouble. 

"Thanks. Not the first time he's done something like this." She grinned, laying the rose atop the television. "You're all right, though, right? I mean, you didn't answer the door when I knocked." 

"Oh… yeah, fine." Siri blinked, one hand going to her pocket to touch the two card keys there. "How'd you get in?" 

"Haruka was doing inspections and she let me in. She has all the extra cards, remember?" Sango called over her shoulder, digging through her duffel. She retrieved Miroku's shirt and retreated to the bathroom. A few seconds later, the Siri heard the sink switch on. She pulled on a pair of pajamas and a spaghetti strapped top, plopping down onto the bed and flipping on the TV. One hand dove into her own duffel, searching blindly for the purse she was sewing. There was a loud yelp when she found the embroidery needle with her injured hand. The water switched off and Sango poked her head out the door, brush in one hand. "What happened?" 

In answer, Siri held up the half finished purse, sucking on her offended finger. Sango snickered, coming out and plopping onto the bed. Siri moved her finger enough that she could stick her tongue out at the older girl. Still snickering, Sango grabbed the remote and began switching stations as Siri stitched another line of fringe onto the bag. She pulled the hotel-issue comforter into her lap, the sound from the TV blurring into the background as she worked. 

"Eeeeew." Sango muttered. Siri blinked. "Dead kid." Sango gestured at the news report on the TV. "I wasn't sure, she's talking really fast, but… I guess she said that's the second one since yesterday?" 

Siri bit her lip, remembering Sango, Inu-Yasha, and Miroku still hadn't quite mastered English, and listened to the newscaster's voice. "Weird. Second body since last night. Both've them were young… one 7, the other 13. They're looking for just one person, both bodies were— GROSS!" 

Sango blinked. The last paragraph had been in Japanese for her benefit, except for the English outburst at the end. "Huh? What?"

"Both bodies have been—eeeeew…–gutted. With no signs of their entrails, anywhere. Eww eww ewwwwwww…" 

Sango, on the other hand, sat bolt upright. "That sounds like a youkai!" She pointed out, grabbing for the phone. Siri sat still as she listened to what she could here. "Turn on your tv… Channel 12. Yeah. Uh-huh. That's what I thought. Sure. Yeah. I'll do it right now." She set down the phone and picked it up again, dialing another extension and repeating practically the same conversation. "You're sure? All right. You call them. K. See you then." 

Siri waited as patiently as she could until Sango was off the phone before pouncing on the black haired girl. "Well? What did they say? You call both rooms? Huh? Well?" 

"Siri?" Sango raised a calm eyebrow at her. 

"huh?" 

"I love you dearly, but I don't like girls. Get off me and I'll tell you." She said dryly. 

Siri snickered, sitting back on her heels. "Well?" 

"Inu-Yasha says if it's fed once, it's not likely to again, assuming it doesn't have a nest. Since there's only been one other killing, that's not likely either. It's probably some sort of spider demon. I thought so, but for some reason I always seemed to miss fighting the giant spiders…" 

Siri nodded slowly. "So there's no use sneaking out tonight?" 

"Inu-Yasha hasn't smelled it anywhere, and we were all over the city. He'll keep his eyes peeled tomorrow, though." Siri nodded again, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. 

"I thought all the Youkai were dead." 

"So did I, but Miroku and Inu-Yasha say it's possible a few have been hiding since the feudal time." 

"Uhm… wow." Siri murmured. "That's a long time to be hiding…" Sango nodded in agreement. 

"So we're not changing any plans just yet. Kagome's going to protest, but…. There's almost no way we can find it. She'll probably accept it." Siri snorted, expressing how likely that was. Sango shrugged sheepishly. "Hey, we can hope." Siri returned to her bed, burrowing under the covers.

"She doesn't need anymore on her plate." Siri muttered in agreement. "We'll work it out in the morning." 

Sango flashed her a thumbs up, switching off the light and scrambling a bit for the remote. Before darkness completely enveloped the room, Siri cast one more glance at the tv, unsure if she was focusing on the moving picture, or the blood-red rose illuminated above it. 

§

"Heeeey!" Kagome giggled, shoving Siri back. The girl tried to brace herself, but her slick leather boots had absolutely no traction and she found herself slipping through the slush covering the sidewalk. She grabbed on to Aiko before she slid into the street and regained her balance, one hand braced on Aiko's shoulder, the other on Miroku's. 

"That wasn't nice!" She informed the other girl. Kagome, one arm intertwined with Inu-Yasha's, grinned. 

"No, it wasn't, was it?" 

Siri stuck her tongue out at her, using a well placed hip thrust to send Kagome sliding as she had been moments before. The only difference was Kagome colliding with a body about her height and both of them crashing to the ground. Kagome blinked, seeing stars. The others crowded around as she tried to figure out who the slim, black-haired figure she'd collided with. The other girl was shaking. Worried, she folded her legs into a kneel and took the other girl's arms. "Hey, you ok?" She blinked as the face came into view. "Ack! Akane, I'm so sorry..." 

Th other girl giggled like mad, hands on Kagome's shoulders so she didn't fall over. "It's.. s'all right." She managed, gasping for breath. "You ok, 'Gome?" 

Relief for the other girl shot through her, and Kagome felt her own stress transforming into giggles. "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry about that though." 

"S'all right, really, some people should watch where there pushing others." Akane sent a Look at Siri who grinned unrepentantly. 

"Hi!" the girl chirped. Akane dissolved into giggles again. 

"Hi!" She gasped back. She was about to say more when a brown-haired blur beat her way through the crowd, followed by a blonde one. She skidded to a halt and took Akane's hands. 

"Akane? Are you all right? What happened? I saw you stumble..." Haruka, a few steps behind her, faded into the background.

In the face of her cousin, Akane took a few deep breaths. "I'm fine, Sabby. Honestly. I wasn't watching where I was going and I bumped into Kagome." 

Sabrina sent the group an evil look. "I'm sure it wasn't your fault, Akane. Come on, I just finished with the ATM, let's go find that skirt in your size." She took her cousin by the arm and gently, but firmly, led her away. Akane sent one last glance over her shoulder at Siri and Kagome. The two waved to show they understood, and got a smile and a wave in return. Haruka blinked. 

"Uhm, yeah. Conflicting much?" 

Siri snorted, eyes locked on Sabrina as she released her cousin and instead twined her arms around a tall blonde guy's. "You could say that." She muttered as the trio walked away, Sabrina happily hanging over the hunk. She tucked her coat tighter around her. "Honestly, 'Ruka-chan, why do you hang out with her?" 

Haruka shrugged. "We've known each other for a while. And I like Akane. I'd better go catch up." A glint appeared in her eyes. "There's this perfect little coat next to Akane's skirt, and Sabrina just stopped by the ATM. I see an opportunity." She winked at the group. "Don't forget to be on the bus tonight. You don't wanna miss the train to Philly." 

They nodded, watching as she trotted off, weaving her way through the crowds. 

Kagome poked Inu-Yasha in the ribs. "Hey, isn't shopping what _we _came here to do?" She pointed out, nudging the others towards the long line of department stores. 

Siri paused, looking over her shoulder. For some reason, she felt like they were being watched. She scanned the crowd quickly, but there was far too much cover. If someone was watching them, it would be nearly impossible to find them. 

"Siri?" She turned and flashed Kagome a reassuring smile. 

"Yeah, I'm coming. Sorry." Kagome reguarded her with an odd look. "What?" 

The girl shook her head, dark hair flying. "Nothing. Come on, let's finish shopping before we have to pack." 

Siri nodded, following her into the store. 

§

"You're saying, lie." Siri said flatly. 

Miroku shrugged helplessly. "Well, look. We want to go on with this trip, right?" Nod. "And Kagome won't leave if she thinks there's a Youkai out there, right?" Nod. "But we _have _to go tonight and there's nothing we can do about it." One more nod. "So, we simply tell Kagome it wasn't a Youkai doing this. It's probably not, either, just some sicko human." 

The other four shuddered, but Siri continued chewing on her lip. "But what if it _is _a Youkai? Can't Inu-Yasha just like... kill it quick quick like a bunny? He has that swordy-thing, after all..." 

Inu-Yasha shrugged helplessly. "I have the Tetsusaiga, yes. But if anything, the presence of it is likely to drive the Youkai away. Especially if they recognize it. No one's challenged me for it in centuries." 

"You haven't found _anything?" _ Sango asked. He shook his head. 

"I thought I had a whiff of something earlier, but I lost it. I can't even be sure it was Youkai. There's so many humans pressed together here, it's hard to smell anything." Siri had the distinct feeling that were he in Youkai form, his ears would be pressed to his head. As it was, he wrinkled his nose. "And it certainly wasn't a Spiderhead." 

Siri sighed. "All right. There's nothing we can do. So we're just going to leave. Because it probably isn't Youkai. And even if it was, there'd be nothing we can do. People die all the time anyway."

Inu-Yasha raised an eyebrow. '"Yeah, that just about covered it." 

"This is disgusting." She pointed out. He nodded in agreement. 

"But it's the only thing we can do." Miroku pacified. "How about this. We won't lie outright, we'll just tell her if she asks." 

Siri raised an eyebrow. "That's awfully devious. I thought you were a monk." She pointed out drily. 

"You should have seen my master." Miroku stated cheerfully. Siri sighed. 

"I reaaaaally don't like this." She reminded them softly.   
Inu-Yasha shrugged. "Sorry?" he offered. She sighed, but nodded. 

§

Several bags and even more dollars later, and quite a bit happier, the six were curled up in the hotel lobby. Their clothing, including the new additions to their wardrobe, were packed into duffels and tossed in a pile of bags by the door. Their train didn't leave for another hour and a half, leaving them with an hour wait before they had to be at the station. Sango had snatched her pillow from her bag and placed it in Aiko's lap, and was now half-dozing, hand locked with Miroku's. Siri shared the pillow with her, somewhat more awake. "Who's idea was this late-night travelling thing, anyway?" 

"Dean Kamil's." Miroku answered promptly. Siri made a face. 

"That was rhetorical, babe." 

Aiko settled her back against Miroku's shoulder, leaning her head on the back of the chair. "Bicker somewhere else, I'm sleeping." 

Miroku sighed. "Aiko, dear, as I explained earlier, you _can't _sleep. If all of you sleep, I'm left with _them." _ He gestured towards the bag pile. 

Kagome leaned against it, kneeling. Inu-Yasha was stretched out perpendicular to her, head in her lap. One of her hands was absently stroking stray hair away from his forehead, the other holding up a book. Over the din of the students, they could hear the quiet murmur of her voice. 

"What's she reading to him, anyway?" 

"Harry Potter." Siri stifled a giggle. Miroku snickered quietly. 

"It's so cuuuuuuute, isn't it?" came another voice. Haruka fell down on the couch next to Miroku, bouncing it gently, despite Aiko's whimpered protest. He grinned at her in greeting. 

"Yeah, it is." Siri agreed. "But he'd kill us for thinking so." 

Haruka snickered quietly, taking a sip of the hot-chocolate clasped in her hands. "I just came to tell you guys you have about 10 minutes before we're moving out. You looked like you needed some time to pack up. Or wake up." She sent an amused glance at the two sleeping girls. 

"10 minutes?" Siri blinked, startled. "I thought we had, like, 20." 

Haruka smiled. "The bus is getting here a little early. We just found out, it's going to take us a little longer to get to the station then we originally thought. I thought you might like a little advanced warning." Siri flashed her a smile. 

"Thanks, 'Ruka-chan."

"No problem." The tall girl finished her hot chocolate off and stood, brushing off her pants. She tossed the cup in the garbage. Siri shook Sango awake gently. Glancing over, she saw Haruka had squatted down next to Kagome and was whispering softly in her ear. Kagome nodded and leaned down to murmur something in Inu-Yasha's ear. Haruka returned to her spot by Akane and Sabrina. 8 minutes later, the sextet was awake and ready, (unlike the majority of the other students.) They boarded the bus first and secured the best seats, settling back for the ride. 

§

It was nearly 10:00 pm by the time they'd arrived in Philadelphia. Another hour till they were ensconced safe in their rooms. The girls had spilt again, this time it was Siri and Kagome together in one room while Aiko and Sango took the other. Kagome was stretched out on her bed in a pair of pajama bottoms and Inu-Yasha's shirt, scanning a booklet on Philadelphia. Siri was on her own bed, sewing, still in her street clothes due to a 'problem' with her luggage. A quiet knock at the door startled both of them out of their semi-stupors. Siri, being the more dressed, got up and answered it. Akane stood there, lugging a bag almost as big as her. 

"We found it, Siri. Sorry it took so long." Siri smiled up at the girl and took the bag, helping her wrestle it into the room. 

"It's no problem. Thanks for finding it and everything." 

Akane smiled. "No problem. I was kinda helping Haruka anyway. See ya guys tomorrow?" 

Siri grinned. "Sure. Night, Akane." 

"Night!" the girl waved, heading back down the hall. From behind the closed door they heard a quiet murmur of voices from which they could only pick out a few words. 

"Wish you wouldn't… low class… only encourage assumptions…" and then Akane's cheerful laugh. 

"Hush, Sabby. I don't mind." Siri flushed guiltily, the last was loud enough that Akane clearly knew she'd been eavesdropping. Kagome giggled at the look on her roommate's face. She giggled more when Siri stuck her tongue out at her as she lugged the bag to the side of the bed and dropped out of Kagome's eyesight as she knelt to retrieve her pajamas. 

"Siri?" As the silence lengthened, Kagome frowned, creeping foreword to kneel on her friends bed. "Siri…" 

The blonde girl started, dropping the pajamas clutched in her hands on top of the open bag. She forced a smile, laughing a bit self consciously. "Sorry. I just… came up with a new… novel plot twist!" 

Kagome blinked but nodded. "Somehow I'm not surprised. You going to change, or what?" Siri nodded and blinked passively at Kagome until the brunette retreated. Once she was out of eyesight, Siri picked up the pajamas once more and blinked suspiciously at the rose hidden beneath them. Sighing, she wiggled out of her jeans and back into her tank top, eyes still locked on the flower. 

"Siri? Are you all right?" 

Startled once more, Siri hurriedly zipped the bag to keep Kagome from seeing it. "Yeah, fine. Novel, remember?" 

Kagome nodded. "Uhm. Yeah. Going to bed?" 

Siri nodded, climbing onto her bed and forcing a smile. "Yeah. G'night." Before the brunette had a chance to respond she switched off the lamp on her side of the room and stretched out atop the covers. She surprised even herself by drifting off immediately.

§

__

"Meggy, my tummy hurts." 

"Again? You didn't drink any milk, did you? Where, up near your stomach?" 

"Nope… Down here." A tiny fist pressed dead center just below the girl's ribcage, into her intestines. A larger hand covered hers, pressing gently and then reaching up to brush back a strand of blonde hair. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital again?" 

"They make me eat nasty stuff. I always feel sicker after. And then I can't sleep." 

"Ok, ok. No hospital. You're going to go to bed, though."

"But…" 

"I'll sit with you, baby. Don't worry." 

A/N: Poor siri… prepare for me to display my adoration of char torture… 

****

Jezunya: Hehe, thankees! And for sticking with me and reviewing every chappy. You have no idea how much it means. *hugs*

****

Tipi: Thanks for letting me know. I know a lot of the time I re-read and things seem rushed. I'm trying to slow it down a TON on this story. Tell me if anything else seems rushed, woulja? ^_^. And as always, thanks for reviewing. 

__ __
    
    Here comes the rain again
    Falling on my head like a memory,
    Falling on my head like a new emotion.
    I want to walk in the open wind.
    I want to talk like lovers do.
    I want to dive into your ocean.
    Is it raining with you?
    Chorus-
    So baby talk to me Here comes the rain again-
    Falling
    Like lovers do.
    Walk with me
    Like lovers do.
    Talk to me
    Like lovers do.
    Here comes the rain again-
    Raining in my head like a tragedy,
    Tearing me apart like a new emotion.
    I want to breathe in the open wind.
    I want to kiss like lovers do.
    I want to dive into your ocean.
    Is it raining with you?
    *Chorus
    So baby talk to me
    Like lovers do.
    Here it comes again.
    Here comes the rain again-
    Falling on my head like a memory,
    Falling on my head like a new emotion.
    Here it goes again.
    Here it goes again.
    I want to walk in the open wind.
    I want to talk like lovers do.
    I want to dive into your ocean.
    It is really with you.
    Here comes the rain again-
    falling on my head like a memory,
    falling on my head like e new emotion.
    I want to walk in the open wind.
    I want to talk like lovers do.
    I want to dive into your ocean.
    Is it raining with you?
    Here comes the rain again-
    Falling on my head like a memory,
    Falling on my head like a new emotion.


	6. Chapter Five, November Rain

AN: Yes, it has been forever. I'm sorry, guys. And forgive the funky spacing and indentation... ff.net likes to fuck around with me.  
  
Disclaimer: not mine.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
November Rain  
  
I know it's hard to keep an open heart  
  
When even friends seem out to harm you  
  
"Meggie...  
  
Meggie?  
  
MEGHAN!"  
  
"Uhn..... Siri? What are you doing here?"  
  
"Mommy and Daddy told me to come here."  
  
"Whaa?"  
  
"I went to mommy and daddy and they said to come here because they were asleep."  
  
"Siri... i's... four in the mor'ing, Whas goin' on?"  
  
"I had a bad dream." Simply.  
  
Sigh. "Wha happ'ned?"  
  
"I was asleep and there was a monster gnawing at my belly from the inside and when I woke up my stomach hurt."  
  
"Siri...--"  
  
"Siri...? Siri! Wake up!"  
  
"Huzzawha? The thing with Inu-Yasha's luggage wasn't my fault!"  
  
Kagome blinked, amused, and sat back on her heels, looking down at the blonde. "I'll keep that in mind. It's time to get up."  
  
Blink. Blink. "Oh..." Siri struggled into a sit, finding herself greatly impaired by the mess of blankets tangled around her thighs.  
  
"Beginning to notice something?" Kagome asked sweetly.  
  
Siri frowned up at her. How can she be sitting... and still be above me.. unless she's on my bed, but... "Why am I on the floor?" Kagome smirked. "Good question. Next question?" Siri untangled the blankets and contented herself with making horrible faces at Kagome's back. The brunette had turned away and was finishing her packing.  
  
"Woaaaah..." Kagome turned back to the blonde.  
  
"Woaaaah, what?"  
  
Siri slipped her pajama bottoms off her hips and held them up with one hand. The other hand she slipped into the slash across the side of the thigh. Her arm fit in halfway to her elbow. Kagome whistled.  
  
"How did that happen?" she asked, taking the pants from Siri and examining the rip. It was clean up and down, as though cut with something sharp. Siri shrugged, pulling on a pair of jeans and taking them back.  
  
"It's not on a seam." She sighed, poking at it. "I'm not gonna be able to repair them right. I'll have to buy a new pair." She pouted, shoving them into her bag. Kagome rolled her eyes.  
  
"Sir.... They're pajama pants. Does it matter if you there's a patch  
showing?"  
  
"I'm a seamstress. This is a matter of pride, Kagome!" Kagome's biting reply was cut off by a knock at the door. "Is everyone fully clothed?" Miroku called.  
  
"Would you really stay out there if we said no?" Siri muttered.  
  
Kagome giggled. "All clear, Miroku."  
  
The ex-monk poked his head in. "Where have you two been?"  
  
"Huh?" Both girls exchanged looks. Miroku blinked at them.  
  
"The tour?" More blank looks. The monk sweatdropped. "Ok, y'see, this is a school trip. Thus, on this trip some of the tours we take are mandatory, and educational. Like for your world history class? We go and study the sights of the American Revolution. Y'know. Some of the really important ones, like where the place where they signed this little thing called the declaration of independence..." He watched as the girls left the room, rubbing his now-sore head lightly. "Ok, ok... you didn't have to hit me that hard...."  
§ "Dude, you two are so late..." Aiko greeted them when they arrived. Both looked sheepish. Sango rolled her eyes.  
  
"Actually, you're only two or three minutes late. We sent Miroku up to fetch you before it would turn into a major issue."  
  
The aforementioned returned a half step beside them and took cover at his girlfriend's side, pouting. "They hit me."  
  
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure they did. What did you do?"  
  
He pouted more. "Would it kill you to be sympathetic?" She grinned and shrugged as the last few stragglers ran up.  
  
"Are we all here?" the teacher at the front of the group called, scanning the crowd. The students nodded. "Right then. Let's get to the bus." As one, the glacier of kids seeped towards the doorway. Anxious for more room, the six dropped to the back of the crowd, slipping into the frontmost seats on the bus, split into threes. Kagome, Inu- Yasha, and Siri felt a shifting behind them, and the back of their seat depressed as someone rested their weight atop it.  
  
"Nice of you to join us." A soft voice hissed maliciously above them.  
  
Kagome looked down and sighed, and Siri turned her head, eyes narrowing. "What do you want now, Sabrina?"  
  
Sabrina looked innocent. "Why should I want anything from you, Sierra? I'm just making a comment."  
  
"Wait, and remind me again, who asked you to voice your opinion? Or do delusions of grandeur just give you the right to voice it whenever you feel necessary?"  
  
"Sabrina? Siri?" seated beside her cousin, Akane looked uncertainly from one to the other. "Come on, you guys... don't fight..." both ignored the younger girl.  
  
"You're certainly in a position to lecture me on courtesy, Sierra, considering you just delayed the tour for the entire class."  
  
"Like there weren't people showing up after us. And you're known for your punctuality."  
  
"Sabrina, Siri, please!"  
  
"Hey, I was here, wasn't I?"  
  
"Your sense of manners are just lacking in... other areas." Siri's eyes focused on the back of the bus, pressing her lips together.  
  
Sabrina turned, eyes locking onto the same target. "Oh, get over it Sierra. That was a full year ago! I can't believe you're still sulking over it." The bus screeched to a halt in front of the museum and Kagome and Inu-Yasha took their chance, bundling Siri out of the seat quickly. Miroku, Aiko, and Sango followed. Sabrina growled after her, only restrained by Akane's tiny hand clutching her elbow.  
  
The two separated groups rejoined inside the doors, safely away from all hissing brunettes. "what was going on back there?" Miroku asked, frowning. "All we could here was mutters, but it didn't sound very nice."  
  
"Sabrina decided to use Siri as a scratching post and Siri followed suite." Kagome muttered. The others groaned.  
  
"Must you two continually bicker?" Sango asked, a bit desperately as they hovered near the back of the tour group.  
  
Siri's face darkened. "Until she apologizes? Yes."  
  
"Siri, I really think you are dragging the grudge a bit too far." Aiko put in, crossing her arms. "Whatever she did can't have been that bad."  
  
"It was."  
  
Aiko through her hands up in disgust. "How are we supposed to know if you won't tell us what happened, then?!"  
  
"Fair point, Siri." Kagome pointed out. The tour began moving. None of them  
  
paid any attention to the docent. "You might as well, and get it over with..." Siri continued to look stubborn.  
  
"We're not going to stop asking until you do." Miroku stated flatly, staring her down.  
  
She sighed slightly, wrapping a curl around her finger. "Fine... fine..." She grumbled. "You know how freshman year, I shared a dorm with Sabrina and Kagome was splitting with Akane and two other girls?" The assembly nodded. "Well, it was pretty simple... Sabrina didn't mind me because I was rich. She tolerated Kagome because Akane liked her. They got along reasonably well... we had quite a few classes together freshman year, before we decided on majors. Kagome and I struck up a friendship a few weeks into term... on weekends, we began switching rooms so that Akane could stay with Sabrina in the Dorm Of Poshness while I stayed over with Kagome. Sometimes Akane and Kagome would both come over and spend the night in our dorm, since we had room. We did the basic college girl thing... makeovers, parties. Sometimes the boys. People started calling us 'the four musketeers,' since we were always around campus together."  
  
"Muskrat tears?" Inu-Yasha frowned. "What did you have to do with muskrats?"  
  
Siri looked bitter. "Well, for Sabrina, if you just took the 'rat' part..." Kagome e lbowed her. "Right. Musketeers. In the early, mid 1600s the king of France had an elite band of soldiers trained in the use of muskets. Like guns." She added hurriedly for the other's benefits. "At any rate, there's this famous book about four of them who save the country from a tyrant by doing the Queen's bidding, which actually means they stopped the King from finding out about her British boyfriend. Anyway, even though they had these great honking guns, their real call to fame was that they were incredible duelists, which actually means they started mock-fights with each other in taverns so that the others could steal food during the distraction. They were great friends and always banded together to help one another, so their motto became "one for all and all for one," which actually means that they split the profits evenly after they bullied townsfolk out of their money. Each of the original three had some secret vice: one was incredibly vain and money grubbing, one a womanizer, the third was a drunkard."  
  
Miroku looked impressed. "They may have been more crooked then me."  
  
"None of them were supposed to be holy men." Aiko pointed out. "And at least they spread it out over four of them."  
  
Miroku pouted, but acknowledged the point. "Still, helluva set of role models.. Ok, you were close. So what happened?"  
  
"I met a guy." Siri said simply, shrugging. "Cute, funny, sweet, loving... basically perfect. We were together almost the full year. Towards the end, we just... drifted a bit and broke up, but stayed friends. Then Sabrina started dating him."  
  
"You had a problem with that?" Sango asked, tilting her head to the side.  
  
"It wasn't so much they were dating, but... I could see them getting closer. So I asked her if there was anything between them. She said no. So I kept noticing them getting closer and I asked her again a few weeks later and told her if there was I didn't mind. She said no again. The third time, she finally confessed they were going out. So I talked to Kagome about it... And she said she already knew. It'd been going on for a month. So I went to Sabrina and just asked why she'd lie to me..."  
  
Kagome coughed.  
  
'Ok, maybe more of a demand." She took in her roomie's expression. "I didn't yell that much! Anyway I found out it had been going on for almost 5 months... and we'd only broken up 2 ago... So I got kind of upset with him..." Another gentle cough.  
  
"Was he the one we saw at the store in New York when you were making faces at her?" Sango asked. Siri nodded.  
  
"So... you're mad because of your boyfriend cheated on you with her?" Inu- Yasha asked to clarify.  
  
"No." Siri's face darkened. "I've never been a huge proponent of monogamy and he wasn't either. I just couldn't stand the fact that they lied to me..."  
  
"And you don't think that's a bit extreme?" He raised an eyebrow.  
  
She shrugged. "You know lying is one of my pet peeves. Remember how angry I  
  
got when I thought you were pulling my leg last year? And repeated lying, even though they knew I knew they were lying. So I called her out on it... we had a bit of a fight..."  
  
"They had a screaming match in the middle of the Quad, with him caught between." Kagome translated.  
  
"Unsurprisingly, he chose her over me, and, well.... Well." She sighed.  
  
Miroku blinked disbelievingly. "You're still mad at her? Over that?"  
  
"Not over that. They can have each other with my blessings for all I care. I'm mad at her because she's a bi--" She caught Kagome's glare. "Brat." She finished slowly. "And she never apologized. Or admitted what she did was wrong."  
  
Sango frowned. "Seems a little odd. I mean there's a lot worse that she could have done."  
  
Kagome blinked innocently. "Like what?"  
  
"Like all these murders-- are bad! Murders are bad, yes, she could have murdered someone. Which would have been bad."  
  
Kagome's eyebrows were up as Miroku gave his girlfriend a hard elbow to stop the blabbering. "Yes. I suppose a murder would be bad."  
  
"We're going back to the bus." Aiko interrupted. "We have to get to Washington." Grateful for the break in conversation, the others followed her back, slipping into their assigned seats. Left atop Siri's backpack was a thick, heavy parchment envelope with her name in elegant script across the top. Quenching the sick urge to open it, she slipped it into her backpack, then glanced back-- Aiko was turned away, caught in conversation with Sango-- hurriedly, she drew the envelope back and tore it open, drawing out the paper inside-- her own face spread across the page, eyes closed in sleep (she refused to ponder grotesque other possibilities,) expertly sketched and inked. Hands shaking, she crumpled it up and stuffed it into the very bottom of her bag. Aiko frowned, turning over. "Sir? Everything ok?"  
  
"Bug." The blonde replied shortly, hoping it would cover. "Big bug." She added a bit desperately.  
  
"Eeew." Aiko shuddered and nodded. "You kill it?"  
  
"Yeah..." Siri nodded, sending one final glance at her bag.  
  
§  
  
"This is your nation's Capitol?"  
"Famous for its rats." Siri agreed cheerfully, hopping off the bed lightly.  
Aiko blinked dubiously. "What is there to see here?"  
"More American history." The blonde answered promptly, grabbing her friend's bag and tossing it on the far bed. Aiko groaned loudly and turned away from the window. "Ah, come off it. We're only here for a day, anyway."  
"What, the liberty bell didn't bore you to death? Along with the long, droning speeches on the Constitution and Declaration?"  
"Actually, I found them fascinating." Siri replied cheerfully, crossing to the door and picking up the newspaper  
"You didn't even have a cheese steak."  
"That would be the vegetarian part, yes." She replied as she pattered back across the floor  
"Weirdo."  
Siri grinned and shook her head. "Go to bed, Aiko." Siri advised, dropping the paper on her bedside table. In bold type, the headline proclaimed 'entrail eater kills 4 in Philadelphia"  
  
§  
  
"You realize curfew was three hours ago?"  
Kagome raised her head from his shoulder, looking up at him. "It's not 4 AM yet!" Inu-Yasha raised an eyebrow, nodding his head towards the clock embedded in the spire of a building. She blinked at it. "Oh.." He laughed, shifting slightly. "Ah, shuddap." She muttered. He only laughed louder. "Inu-Yasha!" she hissed, turning around and raising to her knees so she could glare at him. "We're going to get caught."  
"Kagome, we're on the roof." He reasoned gently, looking at her. "Who's going to hear us?"  
She huffed, crossing her eyes and dropping down so she was kneeling. "You could."  
"I'm a demon." He reminded her. She placed her hands behind her and leaned back, pouting.  
"Yeah, I noticed."  
"...Kagome?" She turned her head away. "Kagome!" He yelped. "Hey, I thought we talked about this!" He reached out and covered one of her hands with his. "Kagome, please, talk to me..."  
She flipped her hand over and grabbed his, scooting backwards suddenly and dragging him with her. "Gotcha!"  
The Youkai sniffed, leaning foreword on his elbows with as much dignity as he could muster, glaring up at the giggling form above him. "That was not very nice." He commented. She started giggling harder. "Kagomeeeeee, don't laugh at me!" He whined.  
"See how you like it!" She responded, dropping back onto her knees, giggling the entire time. He sniffed, pushing himself up and squatting in front of her.  
"That. Was. Not. Nice." With each word, he poked her, moving upwards from her stomach on 'that' to tapping her nose on 'nice.' He scooted closer, one of his knees brushing her stomach. She was still bent over with giggles, so he laid a hand on her shoulder gently. "Kagome?"  
"Y-yeah?" She choked out, looking up at him. She blinked, startled to find him so near.  
You got a new boyfriend.  
No.  
"Kagome?"  
Why did you do that, Kagome?  
No... no, please...  
This is all your fault...  
"Kagome! Kagome, listen to me..."  
"no, please..." She whispered softly, tears tracking down her face. "I didn't, no..."  
"Kagome!" He shook her gently, causing her hair to swing free from where it had previously been tucked behind her ear. "Kagome, it's all right, it's just me. Inu-Yasha. Hojou's not here, baby, they locked him up in an asylum, remember? It's only me."  
"I-Inu?" He nodded pushing back her hair.  
"It's only me."  
She sniffled and slumped against him. "I thought... I thought you..."  
The Youkai sounded resigned. "I know. It's all right."  
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."  
"Kagome... Don't-- it wasn't your fault--"  
"I'm sorry..." She whispered, shooting to her feet and running for the elevator, leaving one very confused Youkai behind her. §  
"Hello? Space cadet?" Kagome blinked, focusing on the finger whizzing  
  
towards her at a seemingly impossible speed. It bounced off her forehead and backed up a few inches, speeding towards her once more. Automatically, she raised her hand in defense, grabbing the finger on its next approach. Siri gave her a strange look. "You ok? You're sort of out of it."  
"Yes." Kagome answered stoutly, then changed her answer to "No. Maybe. I'm not sure-- I had a fight with Inu-Yasha last night."  
The other three girls lounging about the room sat up suddenly, eyes widening. "What? Oh-- are you all right?"  
"Yes, but... It was my fault. I had a Hojou moment, and I just... spazzed."  
Aiko frowned. "Kagome, my brother is the most severe screw up that side of the Atlantic. You went through a lot last year, Inu-Yasha'll understand."  
  
"I know." Kagome confessed, flopping on her stomach. "At least, I think... but I must've hurt his feelings so much... and it's happened before, so why shouldn't it again? He doesn't need this kind of crap... maybe... it would just be better if we broke up... He could lead a normal life..."  
"Kagome!" Sango cried. "We're talking about the man who saved you from becoming stew meat, among other things. He's a -demon- living in the modern world-- I don't think it's possible for him to live a 'normal' life. And I know he wouldn't want to, if you weren't in it."  
Kagome still looked doubtful. "Last summer... when I was still being all skittish... It hurt him so much, I could tell. It isn't fair for me to keep putting him through that."  
Siri narrowed her eyes. "Are you sure you're not looking for the easiest way out for yourself?"  
Kagome bristled at the accusation, then shook her head. "Maybe. I don't know. I'm just... confused." All three went over to hug her lightly. "C'mon. go talk to him, you'll feel better. I promise."  
"Curfew's in... a half hour."  
Siri grinned brightly. "Just enough time for you to get there and apologize. Let's go." She hoisted the brunette up. The other two followed, bouncing to their feet and hustling the girl out the door.  
"S'kinda spooky out here at night." Aiko commented as they slipped out the door and headed across the park that separated the boy's hotel from the girl's.  
"No 'kinda' about it." Sango agreed, fingers itching for a weapon. News photographs, mainly featuring kids' bodies with sans entrails, flashed through her head. She shook them away and clung to the others as they moved under the trees. The park had no interior lights, the only light came from those along the perimeter, and as a result just about everything was a shadow within a shadow. Handy for causing double-takes, scares, and... feet? Frowning, Sango broke away from the clutch and started towards the shape. "Stay here, guys." She commanded.  
Of course, they didn't listen, following on her heels. She crouched at the side of the path, pulling back the bushes. Let them go so she could clutch at her mouth, turning her head away and closing her eyes as tight as she could, and screw the redundancy. "Oh, god..." Siri blabbered at her back. "Oh my god, oh my..."  
  
When I look into your eyes  
  
I can see a love restrained  
  
But darlin' when I hold you  
  
Don't you know I feel the same  
  
'Cause nothin' lasts forever  
  
And we both know hearts can change  
  
And it's hard to hold a candle  
  
In the cold November rain  
  
We've been through this such a long long time  
  
Just tryin' to kill the pain  
  
But lovers always come and lovers always go  
  
And no one's really sure who's lettin' go today  
  
Walking away  
  
And when you take the time to lay it on the line  
  
I could rest my head  
  
Just knowin' that you are mine  
  
All mine  
  
So if you want to love me then darlin' don't refrain  
  
Or I'll just end up walkin'  
  
In the cold November rain  
  
Do you need some time...on your own  
  
Do you need some time...all alone  
  
Everybody needs some time...on their own  
  
Don't you know you need some time...all alone  
  
I know it's hard to keep an open heart  
  
When even friends seem out to harm you  
  
But if you could heal a broken heart  
  
Wouldn't time be out to charm you  
  
Sometimes I need some time...on my own  
  
Sometimes I need some time...all alone  
  
Everybody needs some time...on their own  
  
Don't you know you need some time...all alone  
  
And when your fears subside  
  
And shadows still remain  
  
I know that you can love me  
  
When there's no one left to blame  
  
So never mind the darkness  
  
We still can find a way  
  
'Cause nothin' lasts forever  
  
Even cold November rain  
  
Don't ya think that you need somebody  
  
Don't ya think that you need someone  
  
Everybody needs somebody  
  
You're not the only one  
  
You're not the only one  
  
Don't ya think that you need somebody  
  
Don't ya think that you need someone  
  
Everybody needs somebody  
  
You're not the only one  
  
You're not the only one  
  
Don't ya think that you need somebody  
  
Don't ya think that you need someone  
  
Everybody needs somebody  
  
You're not the only one  
  
You're not the only one  
  
Don't ya think that you need somebody  
  
Don't ya think that you need someone  
  
Everybody needs somebody 


End file.
